The 90s Part 6: The Punk Revival

The early 90s were an amazing time for music…generation x, a powerful demographic force, reached the age where they were in a position to demand music that reflected their needs and wants and wishes and desires and fears…

The biggest sea change came with the rise of grunge, thanks to Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and, of course, Nirvana…but that music was just the kick-start for the alternative nation that came to dominate most of the 90s….

For many, grunge was alternative music with training wheels…those who liked what they heard were invariably led deeper into a culture that had existed outside the mainstream for years…Gen X discovered different flavours of goth and industrial and electronic music…and they also discovered punk….

Punk had always been around…sure, it kinda got burned out at the end of the 70s, but it never died…the Ramones kept touring…bands like husker du were putting out records…and American hardcore established itself as a force to be reckoned with…

But punk was still a niche thing, away from the attention of most music fans…but then an interesting set of circumstances came into play that resulted in a massive resurrection of interest in punk rock—and echoes of that resurrection are still being felt today…

This is chapter 6 of our look at back at the 1990s…it’s the mid-90s punk revival… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices